3rd Trimester

Pilonidal Cyst

I am 30.5 weeks pregnant and went in two weeks ago to have a cyst looked at since it flared up really bad and was killing me.  The nurse drained it (this was a horrible experience!) and i've been healing since.  

I went to see a surgeon yesterday with a referral from my Dr. and they said it was a pilonidal cyst and would need to be removed surgically.  The assistant that I saw told me that since I'm pregnant, it'd have to wait until after the baby was born to do the procedure since it's pretty invasive.

 I am a nervous wreck.  I keep wondering how the hell such a random thing happened.  Has anyone else had this and not had it treated?  It sucks! 

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Re: Pilonidal Cyst

  • Sorry, I am just lurking here as I belong on the second trimester board, but I can relate to your post. My husband had an AWFUL PC operated on over a year ago. He let his go for years without seeking medical help and just suffered in silence. His got so awful he bled through his clothes and would cringe at the thought of using the restroom. It is because of this I would advise to get this taken care of ASAP after your LO is born. He was lucky he never got incredibly sick due to infection, but surgeons said his was one of the worst they have ever operated on. He was out several months and had a wound vac and wound nurse come ever 2 days to clean his wound. Like I said he had lived with this for years, too embarrassed to seek help. I am sure yours is more contained and that you were more proactive in seeking medical treatment then he was, so I am sure yours will not be as invasive as his. They basically go in remove the cyst and debris in the area and check the surrounding tissues.  Def get the surgery after the baby is born to prevent it progressing any further. Until then they may have you come in and have it drained. :/ Good luck to you!!!
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  • Oh, wow!  Your poor husband!  I can relate to what he went through.  I was in the same boat, really.  I was too ashamed to go to the Dr. and have it looked at because I didn't want anyone to see my butt like that.  I've had mine for a few years now.  After getting pregnant and having Dr's looking at me everywhere, I kind of got over that and decided it was time to do something about it, which is why I went in to get looked at.  The draining of it was NO picnic and I screamed and cried the entire time.  I am hoping it doesn't come back and it won't be an issue.  On the other side of my butt though, I have what the surgeon called a sinus cavity.  It doesn't hurt at all or anything, but it definitely has me worried.  The one that was drained is healing and still hurts to put pressure or sit on it.  

    I'm so scared of being knocked out for the procedure to be done, let alone what the healing time will be like.  I'm such a wuss when it comes to any of this stuff, I am so scared of the blood and recovery. 

     

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  • Oh man, I have been there.  I never knew I had this until it flared up during my senior year of college.  It was the most painful thing I've ever experienced in my life (I say that because childbirth hasn't started yet!).

    Apparently I had this my whole life, but had no idea until it got infected.  I was 21 and had no idea what was going on.  I happened to be home for the weekend, and my mom convinced me to go to the dr, who listened to my symptoms, took one look, and sent us to the hospital.  I had to have THREE localizers injected right into the spot to begin the draining process.  I screamed bloody murder and cried like a freaking baby during that part because it hurt so bad.  But since you've already had yours drained, you're past the worst of it.

    All of that happened over 4th of July weekend, and I had the operation over Christmas break a few months later.  I SWEAR to you that having the cyst infected and drained was 10x worse than the operation.  I will admit that the first few days after the operation were no fun, ESPECIALLY when changing the gauze each day, but it gets much better and easier every day, and can heal quickly. 

    If you get the surgery and they get it all out, you should be pretty set for life with little to no risk of having it flare up again.

    Oh, my eyes are watering thinking about how much the draining hurt!!  It sucks, doesn't it? 

    I was honestly getting a little worried in my late 2nd tri because my tailbone pain was so bad I was worried the cyst had somehow returned and I'd have to go through it all again!  Luckily, it was just regular tailbone pain and no cyst.

    Best of luck to you!!  I would honestly recommend the surgery and not risk any more flare-ups.

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  • I usually lurk but I have had 2 different pill dial cysts removed. The first was the worse because it abcessed and turned black and hard. It was soon gross! The worst part about the surgeries is that they leave the wound open so you can keep it clean and dry. It s gross to clean it out everyday and you will need help for awhile. Unfortunately mine continue to return. If you have any questions let me know. 

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  • imagetatercater:

    Oh man, I have been there.  I never knew I had this until it flared up during my senior year of college.  It was the most painful thing I've ever experienced in my life (I say that because childbirth hasn't started yet!).

    Apparently I had this my whole life, but had no idea until it got infected.  I was 21 and had no idea what was going on.  I happened to be home for the weekend, and my mom convinced me to go to the dr, who listened to my symptoms, took one look, and sent us to the hospital.  I had to have THREE localizers injected right into the spot to begin the draining process.  I screamed bloody murder and cried like a freaking baby during that part because it hurt so bad.  But since you've already had yours drained, you're past the worst of it.

    All of that happened over 4th of July weekend, and I had the operation over Christmas break a few months later.  I SWEAR to you that having the cyst infected and drained was 10x worse than the operation.  I will admit that the first few days after the operation were no fun, ESPECIALLY when changing the gauze each day, but it gets much better and easier every day, and can heal quickly. 

    If you get the surgery and they get it all out, you should be pretty set for life with little to no risk of having it flare up again.

    Oh, my eyes are watering thinking about how much the draining hurt!!  It sucks, doesn't it? 

    I was honestly getting a little worried in my late 2nd tri because my tailbone pain was so bad I was worried the cyst had somehow returned and I'd have to go through it all again!  Luckily, it was just regular tailbone pain and no cyst.

    Best of luck to you!!  I would honestly recommend the surgery and not risk any more flare-ups.

     

    YES!  It hurt more than anything I've yet to feel.  Honestly, after the drainage and walking around with a flared up cyst, childbirth sounds like a piece of cake.  I'm just sooo grossed out by the thought of them cutting my butt open and getting it all out and the recovery time.  Not to mention, I wonder when a good time would be since i'm sure i'll be pretty laid up after childbirth and having this done won't even be a priority while i'm recovering from childbirth.

     They drained the one really bad one and I still have gauze on it so kind of pad and protect it since it's still sore and i'm afraid that because I do feel some pain back there, that it's coming back or something.  When you had your surgery, did they put you under?

     Thanks for sharing your story... it makes me feel better to know i'm not alone and won't die from this.  I've literally been freaking out since hearing what needs to be done in the near future! 

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  • imagesfrostga516:

    I usually lurk but I have had 2 different pill dial cysts removed. The first was the worse because it abcessed and turned black and hard. It was soon gross! The worst part about the surgeries is that they leave the wound open so you can keep it clean and dry. It s gross to clean it out everyday and you will need help for awhile. Unfortunately mine continue to return. If you have any questions let me know. 

    So, yours have returned even after surgery?  Poor thing!  That's a LOT to go through if it keeps returning!  How awful! 

    BabyFruit Ticker
  • I had a total of 5 surgeries for a pilonidal cyst.  I would suggest finding an excellent surgeon who has experience with this problem.  My first surgery was closed, then I had 3 open surgeries and the fifth and final one was an open surgery with a wound vac towards the end. It was painful and took 3 years of my life away from me.  If I had done my research first and found an experienced surgeon I wouldn't have been through hell and back.  I would suggest checking out www.pilonidal.org.  it's an amazing website that was started by another pilonidal sufferer.  

    I have been lucky to not have had another problem with this since my last surgery. It was taken care of and I am so glad.   

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  • I had one surgically removed a few years ago.  I had it for about 5 years before having it looked at.  For a long time I actually thought it was just a spot on my tailbone that got sore from doing crunches on the floor (I used to do them regularly as a part of my work out).  Then it would start oozing off and on and I realized I should have it checked out. 

     The surgery was pretty invasive.  They left the wound open and I wore a vacuum pack 24/7  that cleaned out the wound (basically sucking stuff out of it).  I had a home nurse come to change my bandages and reattach the vacuum every other day for awhile.  I think the total recovery time was maybe six weeks.  So in some ways the recovery was really hard but I think it was better than I expected it to be.  And I will say that I have no pain back there at all now and no more pilonidal cysts coming back.  It's been great. Try not to be too nervous because it really wasn't that bad.   

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  • I dealt with a very persistent pilonidal cyst in my late teens and it was the worst experience I have ever been through.  The first draining was by far the worst pain I have ever felt and I almost think that childbirth might be easier (though I don't know for sure...yet!).  After that, I had two more drainings because as soon as the area healed from one, the cyst would reform again.  After about 8 months of draining/healing I had the surgery to remove the entire area.  My surgeon said it was the second largest cyst he had dealt with because it had formed channels as it spread.  Because of that, my recovery took a very very long time.  It sounds like nowadays they use vacuum cleaning machines, which may speed up the healing process, but back in the late 90's, they just had me change the gauze packing in the wound every day and wait for the area to heal from the inside out.  It took 6 months for my wound to heal fully!  But after the first month or two it wasn't bad at all.  I really hope your cyst is not as advanced as mine was and that your recovery is easier and faster.  Overall, my advice is to take care of it asap so it doesn't get bigger, which will make your recovery harder.  I will pray for you!
  • Oh my goodness, I totally know what you are going through. With my first pregnancy 3 years ago, I had a pilonidal cyst flare up for the very first time...I think it was right around 30 weeks also. It got so bad because I didn't know what it was and was too embarrassed to have my doctor look at it. Once she did, she immediately sent me over to the surgeon and I had it cut open and drained. It was a horrible experience, ugh! My husband ended up having to pack it for me until it healed.

    I ended up getting another flare up a couple of years later and I caught that one earlier, but still had to have it drained. Luckily that time I didn't have to pack it, just keep it clean and let it heal. The surgeon wanted to do the surgery after that flare up because he said the chances of getting another flare up just go up after each one. I was way too scared to get the surgery and still haven't.

    I started to feel like I was getting a flare up at the beginning of this pregnancy, and I was so nervous. I ended up catching it super early, right when I started to feel like I had a sore tailbone, and started doing warm compresses on it and it went and away and hasn't returned.

    I'm still not sure I will ever get the surgery but we will see.

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  • Wow - sounds like I'm really lucky!  I had one my senior year of college - I remember my surgeon saying they're most common in women because our long hair can fall down our back and get trapped there, and that when he opens them up that's usually what he finds (gross).  I didn't have nearly as bad of a time as PP's - I had mine opened up once by a surgeon under local.  That was awful and still so painful even under local that I remember getting sick on the table, and afterwards was no picnic, they gave me percocet and the worst part was changing the dressing.  The good news is that since then I haven't had any problems with it.  Hopefully at worst yours is like mine.  I mention the cause of them because I'm always ridiculously careful about cleaning there in the shower - not sure if that had anything to do with it not coming back or not, but maybe that helps.  Good luck!
    4.23.12 - BFP! EDD 1.3.12

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  • Thank you, everyone, for the support and advice! I really think this was the most painful thing to go through. I'm sure I'll reconsider that comment once I experience childbirth in December :) I heard back from the surgeon and he told me that I need to wait some time after I have the baby, so until then we can treat it with draining (if need be) and antibiotics (if need be). He told me surgery isn't absolutley necessary, it's just how much I'm willing to deal with the pain of it when it does flare up.
    BabyFruit Ticker
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